


The Party's Over

by Rod



Series: Parallel Lines [24]
Category: Veritas: The Quest
Genre: Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-23
Updated: 2013-05-23
Packaged: 2017-12-12 19:14:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/815044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rod/pseuds/Rod
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nikko and Cal talk. Which is possibly the worst thing they could have done.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Party's Over

Nikko knows the shit-eating grin he's sporting right now makes him look like a cocky bastard, but he reckons that he's earned it. They got the information his Dad wanted, which looks pretty weird and has got to be interesting if Dorna were after it too, and his Dad has generously let them have the rest of the evening off. Cal has promptly dragged him into a side room for a little 'discussion', which means that Nikko has that perfect leather-clad ass all to himself just as soon as he manages to lock the door. Oh yeah, Nikko's ready for anything Cal can throw at him.

"We can't do this."

Except that. "Huh?"

"We can't..." Cal gestures between them in frustration, and Nikko realises with a sinking heart that he's serious.

"Why not? It seemed to me that you were pretty interested back in the alley." Nikko can still feel Cal's lips kissing him back, Cal's fingers bringing him off, and he knows that Cal wanted what happened every bit as much as he did.

Cal grimaces but doesn't deny it. "Nikko, we nearly got Juliet captured or killed in there. We can't do that!"

He's being rejected, Nikko realises. It hurts. It hurts every bit as much as it did all those years ago when he first wanted his mother back, and just like then he lashes out at anyone stupid enough to be nearby.

"You're scared," he accuses Cal, all hint of that smile gone.

"Of course I'm scared," Cal snaps. "You're my boss's son, you're underage, and which part of 'we nearly got Juliet killed' did you not understand?"

Nikko snorts. "You're just making excuses. This isn't about Juliet, this is about you not having the balls to admit that you liked what we did. Pretend all you like, Cal, this isn't going away."

"I did like it," Cal admits, and Nikko's not quite so far gone he can't hear the pain in those words. "I liked it so much I didn't, couldn't think. We had a job to do and I didn't even think about it. I can't concentrate when I'm around you. Sooner or later, that's going to kill someone."

He's taking away Cal's focus, Nikko realises. Somehow that hurts more than Cal choosing Veritas over him, maybe because that's that one thing that is unequivocally Nikko's fault. Focus is Cal's gift, the thing that more than anything else defines Calvin Banks. If he's stealing that away, Nikko thinks, then he's destroying Cal. And that he may never forgive himself for.

"Nikko, I can't be with you. I just can't. This thing between us, it's got to be over."

Nikko draws himself up to his full height. Now he knows what he's doing to Cal, he knows that he has to be the one to end this. He has to make it easier on Cal. "OK," he says with faked coldness, "run away then. Hide behind your computers and your precious job, see if I care. Just don't expect me to still be here when you come crawling back. As far as I'm concerned we aren't over, we never were anything in the first place!"

From the look on Cal's face that was as painful to hear as it was to say, but Nikko knows he has to stay strong. Break it clean, his inner Vincent tells him, and it will heal clean. If Cal thinks that Nikko hates him now, it'll be easier for Cal to move on.

If only it didn't mean breaking him first.

Cal walks slowly to the door, then pauses. He looks at Nikko, and Nikko wishes that he couldn't see the pain there. The pain he put there.

"Nikko, I..." Cal says, then changes his mind and slips out.

Alone again, Nikko slumps in a chair and wonders how the best night of his life became the worst.


End file.
